Wednesday Trends

Hi, it's Debby here with this week's Wednesday Trends. The trend I'd like to look at today is for Clean and Simple (CAS) stamping. This is the stamping style which I am most drawn to and is very popular at the moment with card classes popping up to try and demonstrate why less is more.

So here is the card I made with CAS in mind.

Supplies: Stamps - There She Goes world's best, sentimental birthday; Inks - Versacolor sage, cement, seafoam, Versafine smoky gray; Card - Stampin' Up pear pizzazz, basic gray; Dies - There She Goes world's best, Sizzix branch with leaves

OK, I'm going to ramble on a bit here on what CAS means to me. I am no expert on design (cell biology was my area pre-children) these are just hints and tips that I've picked up along the way. So it might not be everyone's definition, but here's some of the things I tend to aim for.

For me then, a CAS design has to have room to breath - an area of the card without much going on. In this card here the "white space" is totally plain, unembellished white card.

Then there is the focal point. I like to add a bit of interest to my cards with dimension. One of my flowers is die cut and popped up, the die cut leaf stem is also popped up in places too and finally the whole white card piece with green border is mounted on dimensionals. Dimension and texture can also be achieved with something as simple as a flourish of twine. So simple doesn't have to mean boring.

The rule of three. If possible I try to keep in mind the rule of three - creating visual triangles between three items is supposed to be pleasing to the eye. In this card I tried to highlight the rule of three with my three flowers and three areas of adhesive stones.

Finally colour plays an important part for me - the strip of green down the left draws the eye yet without creating any fuss. I love colour and it's often my starting point on any project. Whether it's a combination of muted blue, green and grey or a vibrant pop of orange and teal, I love colour!

I could ramble on for pages, but I'll stop here before you fall asleep! So there you are, CAS according to me! I'm hoping to learn more about CAS design this year, so expect to see more of this style from me over the coming months!